


Serpents Bleed Red Too

by saltyfandombrat



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Blood, Blood Loss, Brass knuckles, Gang Initiation, Gang activity, Gangs, M/M, Serpent Blood, Serpent Initiation, Serpent laws, double meanings, graphic depictions of blood, implied anemia, southside serpents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24259801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyfandombrat/pseuds/saltyfandombrat
Summary: I hope everyone enjoyed the double meaning of the prompt "Serpent Blood", it fit so well!
Relationships: Jughead Jones/Sweet Pea
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36
Collections: Banned Banned Together Bingo 2020, Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Serpents Bleed Red Too

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed the double meaning of the prompt "Serpent Blood", it fit so well!

The blood was everywhere. That was the first thing that Sweet Pea noticed when Jughead finally rose back up to his feet, as shaky as a newborn deer walking for the first time, blood pouring freely from his mouth area and just above his cheekbone. Of course, when a person was beaten up by an entire gang of people and then punched by brass knuckles, there was going to be a little bit of blood at least, but there usually wasn't so much unless something was actually the matter. For a brief moment, Sweet Pea worried as the man staggered back to his feet, looking ready to fall right back down. His blood looked so bright and thin too, nothing like most blood, and there was an excessive amount of it. To make matters even worse, the way he was wobbling around did not make him feel any better about the situation. He couldn't be entirely sure of it, due to how dimly lit it was outside now, but he thought that he could see Jughead looking even more pale now as if he was going to pass out into the grass. Maybe it would help him a bit. 

Of course, Sweet Pea was far from a medical professional and his knowledge was slim to none at best, but he had seen a lot of violence in his short life. Through all of the fights and Serpent initiations that he had been a witness to, he had never once seen someone looking so badly after just a couple hits. Nobody had been that hard on him. Now, the blood was dripping down from his cheek and mingling with the nose pouring from his nose, even trickling down to connect with the blood at his mouth. Sweet Pea's shoulders felt so tense as he watched Jughead, the younger man's eyes half closed and dull, even though they were barely visible in the darkness. Blood dripped off of his small chin, not quite to the level of a faucet luckily, but it was in a semi steady movement as he looked up at Sweet Pea defiantly. His once entirely white tank top was stained with blood now, drenched at the very top of it and colored that same bright blood hue that was marring his face along with the cuts that would be all bruised up by tomorrow morning. 

Looking at the blood on the newly initiated Serpent made Sweet Pea feel sick to his stomach and maybe that should have been more worrying than it was, maybe the problem was within him because blood never made him feel like this before and there was really nothing more to it this time, there was just more. It flashed through his mind for a moment that maybe it was more troubling because it was Jughead's blood, but he didn't really want to consider the implications of what that would mean for him if that was the reason. He brushed away the thoughts in favor of giving Jughead the best look that he could manage, a mix between impatient and smug, trying to pressure him into extending his hand to him. That was what everyone was waiting for now, for him to prove that was okay enough and that was strong, it was important for Serpents to be able to withstand a few punches. They needed to be durable and able to get back on their feet with ease, they got into too many fights to count and they were only as strong as their weakest person.

Sweet Pea could not have been more relieved when Jughead tilted his head back to look up at him and gave him that stupid grin of his, looking up at him expectantly, eyebrow cocking up. Just as shakily as he had stood up, he reached his arm out to him and he happily took his hand, more so just grabbing it rather than shaking it. He kept his grip on the man tight, though, as if he could support his entire body weight just by holding onto him. He supposed he shouldn't be so surprised that Jughead had succeeded in making it through all the trials, he had mostly been giving him a hard time when he was telling him that he would never be a real Serpent. Everyone pretty much knew he had what it took, he was FP's son after all, Serpent blood ran through his veins. He was practically destine to take over when FP retired or if something happened to him, God forbid. No matter how much he talked down about the Serpents, he always would be a Serpent and he knew that deep down, he was smart enough to know that. 

For generations, the Jones family had ties to the Serpents and they were natural born leaders, it seemed. Not that Sweet Pea would ever admit that or bow to Jughead if he ever took over in FP's stead. However, Jughead knew as well as anyone that people would listen to him if he decided to lead them. Despite their stereotype, Serpents were loyal to their own, it was a high crime to ever jeopardize the safety of anyone else. All of their laws were to protect and be loyal to one another. Law one, no Serpent would ever stand alone and that even included if they were entirely wrong about whatever was going on, they would be defended. If a Serpent died or was arrested, their family would be taken care of while they were gone, just like they were taking care of Jughead now while FP was gone. Serpents never shed their skin, once you were a Serpent, you were one forever and you should be proud of who you are. There was no getting out of it once you were in, it's why they gave people so many chances to back out of it. 

No Serpent is left for dead because above all else, the needs of the group outweighed individual needs, everyone had to do as much as they could to take care of their fellow gang members. A Serpent never betrays their own either, they were all in this together and the highest crime a Serpent could commit was betrayal, whether that was literal or in more subtle ways. Any sort of betrayal was absolutely off the table and unacceptable, that was the only way to be pushed out of the pack, they couldn't afford to keep any traitors amongst them. Softness towards traitors would destroy the very foundation of their group because they were just enemies in waiting, ones who knew every intimate secret about the group and that wasn't something they would ever deal with. Rot was always cut out. And finally, but most importantly, there was their final law that encompassed everything they believed. "In unity, there is strength." Because they weren't just a gang at the end of the day, they were a family and Serpent blood ran deep. 


End file.
